Bobby Zalenski Goes Back-to-Back in eNASCAR Action from Daytona

Last time out, Bobby Zalenski spanked the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series field on the Daytona International Speedway road course with the largest margin of victory in series history.

This time, on the oval, couldn’t have been any more different.

Zalenski nipped birthday boy Eric Smith at the finish line by .029 seconds as the field wrecked behind them to wrap up the unprecedented third visit to Daytona of the season on Tuesday night. Known more recently for his road racing prowess, it was Zalenski’s first oval victory in three years, came from the pole, and helped further assert his position as one of the drivers to beat in this year’s championship.

Unlike the season opener in February, the return to Daytona under the lights saw four caution flags for 12 laps, kicked off by the “big one” on Lap 22. That wreck knocked a number of top drivers out of contention early, including past series champions Michael Conti, Ryan Luza, and Ray Alfalla, with the four-time eNASCAR title winner flying in the carnage. Another caution came just as green flag pit stops were getting started, as a bottleneck of cars unsure about who was pitting ended solid runs for both Brian Schoenburg and Steve Sheehan, running his first race for JTG Daugherty Racing.

The field calmed down enough in the closing laps for nearly 20 laps of clean driving, alternating between two and three-wide pack racing throughout the final stint. Zalenski and defending series champion Zack Novak worked the low line, with Smith and Corey Vincent above them and a third line occasionally popping up with drivers like Nick Ottinger and Caine Cook fronting it. Contact between the upper two lines in the tri-oval coming to the checkered flag led to a repeat of February’s finish, with only a handful of drivers getting over the finish line cleanly.

With the cutoff for the eight-driver playoffs looming, Zalenski’s win allowed him to seize the points lead from Keegan Leahy, who finished a disappointing two laps down in 26th. Garrett Lowe, Luza, Conti, Ottinger, Logan Clampitt, and Alfalla complete the current grid, with Graham Bowlin 15 points on the outside looking in. After getting caught up in an incident with Brandon Kettelle, Michael Guest dropped to 20th in points, just five points clear of John Gorlinsky to retain his license for the 2021 season. Smith, meanwhile, jumped to 26th in his bid to remain in the series next year.

Full eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series results from Daytona International Speedway were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Name

Manufacturer

Laps

Led

Interval

Best

Pts

1183Bobby ZalenskiChevrolet1004344.26145
2219Eric J. SmithFord1000-0.02843.81139
33490Zack NovakToyota1004-0.05743.81339
41427Corey VincentFord1001-0.08444.28338
53677Bob BryantToyota1000-0.10743.82936
6525Nick OttingerChevrolet10039-0.10843.94036
7299Logan ClampittToyota1005-0.13744.14735
8185Matt BussaFord1000-0.15043.86833
93554Alex McCollumChevrolet1000-0.16643.79832
103055Caine CookFord1001-0.19343.90632
113121Garrett LoweFord1000-0.21843.92230
121751Malik RayToyota1000-0.23444.01629
13153Blake ReynoldsChevrolet1000-0.32243.89428
142488Brad DaviesChevrolet1000-0.32743.93627
151916Chris OverlandFord1000-0.37244.23426
16466Jarl TeienChevrolet1006-0.38644.19726
1774Santiago TirresChevrolet1000-0.42344.24824
18818Graham A. BowlinToyota1000-0.43144.24023
192315Michael GuarigliaFord1000-0.50644.19722
202846Jimmy MullisToyota1000-0.58144.21921
212697John GorlinskyChevrolet1000-0.59143.79820
221375Phillip DiazFord1000-0.66943.94519
231133Michael GuestChevrolet1000-22.48143.88918
242941Dylan DuvalFord1000-22.67543.83317
251024Jake NicholsFord990-1 L44.33116
26932Keegan LeahyToyota980-2 L44.07915
27636Chris ShearburnChevrolet960-4 L44.31914
282737Christian ChallinerChevrolet950-5 L43.82513
292523Casey KirwanToyota930-7 L44.22312
302014Brandon KettelleFord730-27 L43.95111
313379Brian SchoenburgFord620-38 L44.20710
323747Steve SheehanChevrolet620-38 L43.8399
3336Nathan LyonFord591-41 L44.4089
343253Ryan Michael LuzaFord500-50 L44.3117
35122Ray AlfallaChevrolet480-52 L44.4236
362210Justin BoltonFord460-54 L44.3225
37168Michael ContiChevrolet300-70 L44.3954

 

eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series points after 13 races are as follows:

  1. Bobby Zalenski, 427
  2. Keegan Leahy, 399
  3. Garrett Lowe, 388
  4. Ryan Luza, 373
  5. Michael Conti, 364
  6. Nick Ottinger, 361
  7. Logan Clampitt, 344
  8. Ray Alfalla, 342
  9. Graham Bowlin, 327
  10. Jimmy Mullis, 325

The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series returns to action in two weeks’ time with throwback paint schemes and wheel-to-wheel action from Darlington Raceway. As always, the race can be seen at 9PM ET on eNASCAR.com/live, iRacing.com/live, and the iRacing Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube pages. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.